Belvo boys Ross Fay and Ben McCormack are almost ready for action in the Kennedy Cup.

The DDSL kick off their 2017 campaign against Clare at 6pm tonight (Monday)

Ben will captain the team while flying winger Ross will also be looking to continue his excellent form.

He spoke BelvedereFC.com on Friday, before meeting up with the squad ahead of Monday’s opening match.

“I was delighted to make the DDSL squad this year and then to make it for the Kennedy Cup team it was a bonus. I know loads of Belvo players have played and done well in this competition over the years and hopefully myself and Ben can do the same.”

Ross hopes the work done by Manager Garrett Dodrill and the coaching staff on the training pitch will pay dividends this week.

“We have done a lot of work on the training pitch and hopefully that will all play off in the games. We’ve been working on set pieces, our formation and how we want to play when we have the ball, and when the other team have the ball. We’ve also done a lot of attacking stuff and some finishing, it’s worked well for us in the games so far.”

Winners

The DDSL (above) will face Clare on Monday before games against Inishowen and Waterford on Tuesday.

The group winners will progress to Wednesday’s quarter-finals, as Ross explains.

“We need to think about getting out of the group before anything else. The coaches have spoken to us about focusing on winning our first game on Monday, that gives us a great chance heading into the two games and Tuesday and that is what we will be trying to do against Clare on Monday.”

The DDSL have dominated this competition, and a win this week would be their 30th Kennedy Cup trophy, that is not something that’s been on the minds of the players though.

“The DDSL are always going to be tagged as favourites with the success they have had before. But every year is a different team, and all of the other teams will feel they can win the competition too. As I said, we'll focus on getting out of the group and then take things from there.”

Belvo Boys

Fay finished by telling us about his relationship on and off the pitch with Belvo and DDSL team-mate Ben McCormack.

“Myself and Ben have a great understanding together on the pitch we know each other's game really well, he's a great player and a leader and we also have a good laugh off the pitch, which will be important this week and we’ll have a lot of free time.”

“I'm really looking forward to be away for a week with a great bunch of lads and staff, hopefully it will be a successful one.”

The DDSL play Clare at 6pm at the University of Limerick on Monday.

Good luck to Ross, Ben and all of the DDSL players and staff from everyone at Belvo.